


Hope A Waking Dream

by Im_The_Doctor (Bofur1)



Category: Undertale (Video Game), underswap
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Babybones (Undertale), Big Brother Sans (Undertale), Blue is a good brother, Brotherly Love, Caretaking, Determination, Hope, Introspection, Protectiveness, References to Depression, Wistful, Worry, positivity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:34:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24550882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bofur1/pseuds/Im_The_Doctor
Summary: Maybe Blue’s smile and positive mental attitude are naïve. It’s not as if it’s easy to maintain them when he sees his brother hurting every day…but he must. It’s all he knows.
Relationships: Papyrus & Sans (Undertale)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 64





	Hope A Waking Dream

Sometimes it’s easy for people to forget that Blue is the older brother. His verve, bubbliness and positivity are near-endless; it is, he supposes, easy for them to mistake those things for the naivety of youth. 

No. He’s just trying to set a good example for Papy. His poor, dear brother seems so absent and withdrawn these days. Even in his sleep he looks lost, tangled wantonly in blankets that reek with the stale odor of sweat and smoke. His breaths come shallowly, barely shifting his ribcage, and Blue’s soul aches at the wheezy sound that comes with it.

Still, it’s better than the screams, he reminds himself firmly, refinding the good. A vast improvement! Recently Papy’s been training himself to smother the cries in his pillow so he doesn’t wake Blue up. With that new breakthrough, it might not be long before the screams stop entirely!

He mentioned such an idea to Papyrus once and he had offered a strange laugh, small and sharp and stinging. “Yeah…maybe _all_ of it’ll stop,” he agreed, a little more softly. Blue had a creeping, tense suspicion that they meant two different things, that the intention and thought behind the words was drastically skewed, but Papyrus’ eyelights had glazed over by then and Blue knew he was cut off. How could he be right there in front of him and yet so far out of reach?

The one thing Papyrus is actually putting effort into…The only thing he’s _ever_ put effort into: burying his feelings.

Maybe Blue’s smile and positive mental attitude _are_ naïve. It’s not as if it’s _easy_ to maintain them when he sees his brother hurting every day…but he must. His hopes and dreams are his stronghold, his stability in a world where everyone else despairs. It’s all he knows and it’s all Papyrus has known, from the day he was born. 

As he smooths the rumpled blankets, tucking them more securely around the nooks and crannies of Papyrus’ thin ~~too thin~~ frame, for a bittersweet moment all he can see is the bundled baby bones that their father had handed over to him so many years ago.

“ _Stand still. Careful._ _Gently. Hold him gently now, Sans_.”

The last words spoken in a world before Sans fell head over heels in adoration for his baby brother, who saw the huge grin and shining eyes looming over him and promptly jammed a hand into his eye socket to grab the pretty blue light. Gaster had looked horrified, but all that mattered was Papyrus’ giggle as his tiny fingers explored Sans’ beaming face.

“ _Who’s my happy Papy?_ ”

It’s been a long time since he’s heard that laugh again…longer than he cares to note.

Yes. Perhaps holding that memory so close is childish. They aren’t children anymore. But even if Sans is deemed childish, he is more so magnificent, which means that this childishness is magnificent by extension!

Hope and sincerity are infectious. Love is infectious and it’s just what the Underground needs. Once Sans brings it to the queen, to the Royal Guard and perhaps, one day, to a human…maybe it will be the assurance he needs that he can bring it back to his brother too.

 _Patiently_ , he promises as he pries a dead cigarette butt from Papy’s limp fingers.

 _Magnificently_ , he swears as he squeezes his hand. Papyrus’ next breath is deeper. His ribcage doesn’t sound quite so tight anymore.

 _Gently_.

**Author's Note:**

> I just have this thing for Blue being the older one, what can I say? You can be positive and sweet and still be the older one XD And he loves his big little bro


End file.
